The evidence presented in the previous three chapters reveals that the Partonopeus Continuation is undisputably the work of more than one individual, and that it took a considerable period of time for it to evolve into the form in which it has come down to us. That process of evolution seems to have consisted of several separate stages and to have involved at least four continuators: the original poet himself, who was responsible for the Anselot episode and part of the invasion narrative; one or more twelfth-century interpolators (who may have included Walter Map); a thirteenth-century remanieur who added the ‘Salut d'amour’, and the fourteenth-century scribe of manuscript T. One of the aims of this chapter is to ask whether we can put any more flesh on these chronological bones and come to a more detailed understanding of how and when the various components of the Continuation were assembled. We will also need to look further into why the romance was continued in the first place, and why this sequel to the adventures of Partonopeus and Melior took on the shape it did. The question of patronage provides a fitting conclusion to this chapter and to the book, for without the impetus provided by the shadowy figure who inspired and rewarded the composition of Partonopeus de Blois, Old French romance might not have developed in the ways with which we are familiar. We begin, however, with questions of poetic form and intertextual influence which may shed some more light on the genesis of this most disconcerting section of the narrative.